Sanmiguelenses to Vote

By Jesús Aguado

All guanajuatenses ought to go out and vote, says the National Electoral Institute (INE). They are trying to attack abstention from voting.

The electoral campaigns started on April 3 and finally ended in June. The candidates running for mayor, federal legislator, or local legislator are not allowed to campaign anymore because this is the period of time that the INE is giving to citizens for reflecting and determining whom they want to represent them in the municipality, the state, and the country.

The electoral process will take place this Sunday, June 7, 8am-6pm. Across the city are 210 polling centers. Three of them will be special. A guanajuatense who is out of his city (but within the state of Guanajuato) for any reason will have the opportunity to vote here. These special polling centers will be situated at the Pollo Feliz on Salida a Celaya, the bus station, and Plaza La Luciérnaga.

For these elections, the INE trained 1,809 sanmiguelenses who will be in charge of maintaining a correct election process to select a president, two secretaries, and three returning officers. The electoral census of the INE states that 117,245 sanmiguelenses are older than 18 years and are allowed to vote; however, only 116,877 people got their IDs for voting.

During the 2012 elections, only 61,418 people voted. The INE wants to avoid such abstention, and they issued an agreement stating that employers that have people working on Sunday must allow them to go to vote.

The results of every polling center for federal legislators will start arriving at Plaza Real del Conde around 7pm the same day. The results for city councils and state deputies will be received at Colonia Guadalupe. The results will be computed and updated on line as the results arrive to the venues. Even if the counting does not finish until the next day, by midnight on Sunday, sanmiguelenses will know who the elected mayor is. For the first time, the elected mayor will be legally allowed to run for a second three-year term.

With this election, the elected mayor could contend for another term in the elections of 2018. The elected mayor will take office on Saturday, October 10, 2015, and will finish his term on Tuesday, October 9, 2018.

Who Will the Youth of San Miguel Vote For?

By Sandra Ríos

We went out to the streets of San Miguel to ask young people who are going to vote for the first or second time for their opinions regarding our city’s elections. This is the question we asked: Whom will you vote for and why?

Sebastian, 18

“I think I will nullify my vote because I’m not convinced by the candidates.”

Bruno, 18

“I have no candidate whom really I like. What I intend to do is to diversify the vote to avoid any one single party having too much power. I am probably going to vote for the parties that have fewer votes in the polls to support them, so that votes are not concentrated in the bigger parties that, in the end, are the worst.”

Jorge, 20

“I’m going to nullify my vote because the system is very corrupt, including INE.”

Aron, 18

“I will not vote because the system is corrupt. Besides that they do not follow through on their proposals.”

Juan Pablo, 23

“I will nullify my vote, because I am tired of (everything) always the same … or worse. I would vote for Morena, because it seems that he is a little more honest and has good proposals, but here in San Miguel, nobody ran for this party.”

Andres, 20

“I will not vote for anybody. I have not seen any interesting proposal from any party, and the system seems very corrupt to me.”

Paola, 19

“I will vote for the PRI to go ahead with the work already done in the municipality.”

Gustavo, 20

“I’m going to nullify my vote; I really have not heard any intelligent proposal from any party. Besides, they do not fulfill their proposals.”

Norma, 21

“I do not believe in any candidate. How am I going to vote for any of them?”

Carlos, 20

“We are in a very difficult situation in the country. We need proposals and new parties. No one believes in those who are in power. I will not vote.”